The decision on whether to allow hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in New York state is one of the most important that our state faces, with long-term, wide-ranging ecological and economic consequences. It’s crucial that science and the public health impacts of fracking determine any decision by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and our state government to permit or prohibit fracking in New York.

Cuomo’s decision to allow the rule-making deadlines to lapse in order to grant Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner Nirav Shah additional time to continue his department’s health review – rather than rush to meet an arbitrary deadline – is the right course. Commissioner Shah’s assertion that “the time to ensure the impacts on public health are considered is before a state permits drilling” in his Feb. 12 letter to DEC Commissioner Joe Martens reflects the responsible way forward for the state with respect to fracking.

But now the governor is suggesting that maybe they’ll be able to rush this review within weeks. No thorough study of the health impacts of fracking can be done in a few weeks.

We only need to look to our southern border to see the terrible results of moving ahead with fracking without properly considering the public health consequences from a range of drilling-related impacts. These impacts include 24/7 noise pollution, vehicular accidents, well casing/cement failures, direct contamination of wells with methane from deep-level fracture zones, hazardous air pollutants from venting and flaring operations, chemical spills, improper disposal of radioactive waste water, silica dust, stream sedimentation, and of course climate-altering methane emissions to air.

Given the negative impacts seen in other states with fracking, I am confident that a thorough health assessment will show what hundreds of New York health experts have recently said – that fracking can’t be done safely and isn’t worth the risk.

Cuomo now has the opportunity to guide the state along a different, responsible path – by carefully considering any and all public health impacts before deciding whether to allow fracking in New York. Such a consideration must include a close examination of health impacts in other parts of the nation where fracking is ongoing. Commissioner Shah’s aforementioned letter specifies that three studies – the U.S. EPA hydraulic fracturing study, Geisinger Health Systems study, and the University of Pennsylvania (in collaboration with scientists from Columbia, Johns Hopkins and University of North Carolina) study – represent “the first comprehensive studies of HVHF health impacts at either the state or the federal level.”

Thus, New York state’s own review of the health impacts of fracking surely cannot be completed before these first-of-their-kind comprehensive studies are concluded. And yet Cuomo is now suggesting that may just be what he does.

Following the conclusion of these studies, the health of New Yorkers would be best served by the state conducting a locally focused review as well. A comprehensive health impact assessment is the gold standard in such studies. New Yorkers’ health is important enough to deserve the gold standard.

As our state has learned from the Love Canal tragedy and the toxic contamination of the Hudson River, an ounce of prevention is worth of pound of cure, and public health is best served when the public itself is in full possession of the facts and actively engaged in the conversation.

Gov. Cuomo, we are hopeful that you’ll do the right thing and make sure that all the science comes in before making a final decision that New York will be living with for decades.

Mary Menapace is a registered nurse at SUNY Upstate Medical University and a member of Concerned Health Professionals of New York, which has been calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to conduct a comprehensive health impact assessment of fracking.